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Title: Phillis Edwards Papers
Dates: 1918-1990
Collection Number: 2017-25
Creator/Collector:
Edwards, Phillis Ann
Contemporary Arts Club
Kappa Alpha Theta
Extent: .75 linear feet
Repository:
History San Jose Research Library
San Jose, California 95112
Abstract: Two Contemporary Arts Club scrapbooks (1918-1990); minutes (1940-1945) of the Sappho Society, or Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority,
of which Phillis Edwards was a member; and one photograph album of snapshots documenting Edwards' young adulthood near San
Jose in the 1930s and 1940s.
Language of Material: English
The collection is available to the public for research by appointment with the Curator of Library & Archives
Contact the Curator of Library & Archives for publication and reproduction permissions
Phillis Edwards Papers. History San Jose Research Library
Donated to History San Jose in 2017 by family member
Biography/Administrative History
The Sappho Society, organized in 1898, was a social club at San Jose State devoted to the study of literature and art. It
evolved into the Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. The Contemporary Arts Club was founded in 1918 by a group of female San Jose
Normal School graduates to "share a mutual interest in all of the arts." Phillis Edwards of Los Gatos, and San Jose, California,
attended San Jose State College, and married James Gordon Percy in 1947.
Scope and Content of Collection
The papers comprise one bound volume of handwritten minutes of the Sappho Society (1940-1945), also known as the Kappa Alpha
Theta Sorority, at San Jose State College; and two Contemporary Arts Club scrapbooks, one of which has been disassembled.
The scrapbooks contain a folder of background information, including list of members, by-laws, letters of thanks for donations
to local charitable organizations, and two obituaries for members; club programs (1936-1994); and a photograph album (1989-1990)
of club events. Edwards' personal photograph album includes photos of the Edwards family at home and in recreational spots
around the Southern San Francisco Bay Area; Phillis with her girlfriends sunbathing on a porch and hanging out together; male
and female friends at the beach in Santa Cruz and at the Mountain View Ranch swimming pool; male friends in World War II uniform;
and the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939).
Women--Societies and clubs
Greek letter societies
San Jose State University
Kappa Alpha Theta
San Jose (Calif.)
Santa Clara County (Calif.)
scrapbooks
minute books
photograph albums